


A bouquet of hatred, dotted with some disappointment and punctuated with a little bit of insincerity

by 9nuymph9



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, But when isn't he, Chan is a mess, I Was Drunk When I Wrote This, I know too much about flowers, I was drunk and emotional, Language of Flowers, M/M, Woojin is caring, but that's also nothing new, guess who wants to have Felix number
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 03:50:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16673983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/9nuymph9/pseuds/9nuymph9
Summary: The AU where:Person A owns a flower shop and person B comes storming in one day, slaps 20 bucks on the counter and says “How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flower?”(I found this on Pinterest and I'm maybe a little bit too drunk for this but not drunk enough so that it actually turned out pretty well... I hope it still does when I'm sober tomorrow)





	A bouquet of hatred, dotted with some disappointment and punctuated with a little bit of insincerity

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so I know there are actually a some fics that I should continue instead of writing a new one but I'm a little bit drunk and just feeling so emo for WooChan right now and I love Stray Kids and always wanted to write something for them but didn't know what and now I've found soo many AUs and prompts on Pinterest that I just have to work on some new one-shots..... as you do?
> 
> I am not quite satisfied with how I ended the whole situation but I'm getting to a point where my drunkness is making me sleepy and I feel like my writers block is gonna be back tomorrow so here goes nothing!

“Maybe I should renovate this place someday, break down the front wall and install ground to ceiling windows? The flowers need as much sunshine and the with it coming warmth as they can get, especially in winter.”

He let his fingertips graze over the delicate petals of violet and blue, eyeing his first Hellebore's of the season. Hellebore's, Phlox', Algerian Irises and Snowdrops bloomed during the cold of winter so he wasn't too worried but his varies types of Carnations and Asters already looked pretty gloomy, not even thinking of all the other summer blooming flowers that the 28 year old tried to keep alive and well in the greenhouse behind his little shop.

His fingers continued to brush carefully against the flower's head as he kept on walking. “But what am I going to do in the summer time then? The summer's heat would be too powerful and could actually harm my fragile beings. Am I right my ladies?” Walking to the front of the store to finally open the entrance for costumers and then walking back inside to place some of the bigger plants and flowers next to small heating lamps, Woojin continued his monologue contemplating back and forth.

Maybe he should just stick to his smaller windows and instead invest in some good quality lamps that gave off a more natural lighting... Or he could rearrange the room to give a more open feeling to it, less stuffed and more neatly? Or what about-

The sudden angry jingling of the shop's door startled him enough to stop his train of thoughts in time to see a man stomping through the lane of green and spots of other colors. Someone was in a big rush, huh, it wasn't even 10 yet.

“How can I help you?” Moving behind the counter, Woojin put on his costumer smile, which wasn't that different from his usual smile since he actually didn't dislike interaction with strangers as much as his intern apparently did. Thinking of the devil, where was Felix? He should've helped Woojin watering the plants half an hour ago-

A dull noise echos through the room as a 20 dollar bill is slapped on the wood in front of him.

“How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flower?”

_Huh. What?_

“Excuse me?” Get yourself together Woojin, concentrate or else you make out the weirdest things.

“Which flowers do I give a person when I want to say fuck you, you total piece of shit! Burn in hell! But like, not that obvious of course, you know?” OK, perhaps it didn't matter how much the 28 year old concentrated, he still didn't understand a word that was coming out of the man's mouth.

At the arising silence that settled between them, mostly due to Woojin still processing if this was an actual situation or if he was just being pranked, the stranger grew more and more anxious. Turning his head sideways to avoid locking eyes, at last he took a step back, clearly changing his mind about the unusual request.

At this point Woojin had already taken in the costumer's messy appearance, his curly bleached blonde hair a bird's nest, his pale face crunched up, doing nothing to hide the gray eye bags. He looked like shit. Poor guy! Around my age and already looking like he's wearing the world's burden on his shoulders.

Feeling bad for the other, Woojin blurted out the first thing that came into his mind. “Do you want some coffee?”

Wide, dark eyes met his. There was a moment when the slightly smaller one opened his mouth to respond, most likely to decline Woojin's offer, but to the surprise of both of them, he ended up nodding. Woojin should curse himself for acting like a mother sometimes, his friends always teased him about that characteristic of his but he couldn't help but feel like assisting those that needed him where ever, when ever and how ever he could. It didn't matter, of course, if these people were still as attractive looking as this guy right now or not.

 

When Woojin came back to the front with a cup of warm coffee, his costumer had sat himself on one of the boxes that were normally holding up the pots of flowers but were still empty because a certain intern still hadn't arrived to help Woojin set everything up yet. Not that the florist had too much time being bewildered by the other boy's absence because his sight caught at the tiredness that the strangers body was radiating, now that he had settled. His shoulders where slouched down in a way that made Woojin feel his protectiveness take over, it costed him a lot of self-control not to wrap the stranger in his arms.

_Restrain yourself, this is really unprofessional and really inappropriate, he may even be older than you._

Not having heard Woojin coming back yet, the man's gaze was fixated on the display of his phone, his thumbs flying over the small keyboard on the touchscreen, though every time he finished his message, he deleted all of the words before starting over. Woojin shook his head with a sigh and took long steps towards the other, pulling him out of his trance. “Here you go. Be careful, it's still hot.”

“Thank you...”, the man's eyes squinted at the name tag on Woojin's apron, “Mr. Kim” and said one couldn't help the smile that played on his lips. “Please, call me Woojin.”

With a smile of his own, the stranger took Woojin's held out hand with the one that wasn't gripping the mug. “Chan. Bang Chan.” Leaning against the counter next to Bang Chan, Woojin let his eyes wander around, not really sure what to answer anymore while the other drank the dark beverage.

Again, silence took over but this time it felt more comfortable, peaceful even. Between the periodical slurping of coffee, the quiet huffs of their breathing and the muffled everyday life outside of their little bubble of the flower shop, the soothing atmosphere almost lulled the two men in. It wasn't easy to tell how much time passed by, usually the flower shop was more or less empty until three in the afternoon apart of occasionally visits from elders but eventually Chan set his empty mug down again, turning his attention to the shop's owner.

“Thank you again. I'm sorry if I came off as rude before, I wasn't really thinking, I guess.”

Woojin discarded his apology with a shake of his head. “I'm gonna be right back.” He left the other awkwardly shuffling around the shop as he headed back to the kitchen to wash out his coffee mug.

 

When Woojin came back he welcomed the other with a smile, which only brightened impossibly more at the confused look that he received in return.

“Well”, Woojin may have already wasted enough of Chan's time, even if he didn't feel bad for it in the slightest, “What would you like Mr. passive-aggressive? A bouquet of hatred, dotted with some disappointment and punctuated with a little bit of insincerity? Perhaps I can plug in some stupidity as well if you like?”

It took a moment for Chan to catch up but then his face contorted in amusement and, oh, OK, Woojin didn't know he had a soft spot for dimples.

“That would be the best, actually.”

Chan followed Woojin through the store as the other put together a bouquet of orange Lilies, yellow Carnations, Foxglove and a Geranium in the middle, careful not to crinkle any of their leaves. You had to be mindful, not to put too much Foxglove into the mix or else the orange and yellow would clash with the tender violet but last but not least, Woojin was satisfied with the arrangement of the flowers.

“Are those their actual meaning by the way? Why do you have such flowers to sell? Are people actually wanting to deliver those messages?” One strand of Chan's hair tickled Woojin's cheek as the other looked over his shoulder curiously, did this guy ever hear of personal space? Woojin frowned in concentration, leaning away a little.

“Every flower has a meaning to it, every color has a meaning to it. I'm glad I get to put this bouquet together for you, even though the meaning might not be that romantic as I'd liked it to be,” Chan snorted next to him, not having stopped grinning ever since Woojin served him the hot beverage, “Most of the people come in here and look which flower is to their taste and I mean I'm not expecting my costumers to know every flowers meaning but, you know, picking a Pear Blossom to lay on your loved one's grave just because it's pure and white is a little ironic since the symbolism of those blossoms are hope and a lasting friendship-” Woojin had to stop himself from continuing, “God, why am I rambling?”

He busied himself by wrapping the bouquet in white and gray dotted paper, in hopes of not embarrassing himself further.

 

“I'm going to my ex's engagement party today.” Momentarily forgetting the flowers, Woojin's head shoot up at Chan's declaration, earning a chuckle from across the counter.

“I know, it's weird.”

Over the past 20 minutes, Woojin had learned that Chan had a habit of curling his locks around his fingertips when he was shy or embarrassed.

“I don't even know why I said yes when he invited me. We broke up almost two years ago but to be honest, for the longest time I thought or well, hoped, that we would find together again sooner or later. Even after he got a new boyfriend I believed that the connection we shared was irreplaceable.” Annoyance painted Chan's face once again and it reminded Woojin of the moment Chan had stormed into his flower shop only minutes earlier. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like sheer decades since the other had entered Woojin's little paradise.

“But now I've accepted his invitation and I feel like a coward when I don't show up after all, ya feel me? I don't want to show weakness in front of him, my ego doesn't allow that!” The laugh that followed sounded strained. Woojin nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Chan where else the other was staring at the bunch of flowers in the 28 year olds hands.

“Jesus Christ, you must be weirded out now, huh, a stranger bothering you with his problems. God. I'm such a looser.”

“Don't worry about it, you don't wanna know how many old ladies and gentlemen talk to me about their children and grandchildren everyday. Besides, I like to help and even if I can only listen to someone's mess, it's better than ignoring it, right?” Woojin tried to share a reassuring smile and a thumbs up, at least Chan was smiling again now. He thought hard about his next words before expressing them, scratching his chin thoughtful.

“How about you take someone with you? Showing your ex that you've found someone else? Moved on and stuff.”

The two shared a sly grin, “I like your train of thoughts but.. Where would I find myself a boyfriend in the next...” Chan glanced down at his phone with a grimace, “8 hours. I don't even know a lot of people to begin with, the fact that my ex already knows all of my friends and acquaintances and will totally see through the lie notwithstanding.”

Woojin shrugged helplessly at that. Chan looked up at him and for a moment with an unreadable expression but then he shook his head a little to gather his thoughts. “It's OK, really, I will get over the humiliation.” What was supposedly a joke, however, it made both of them only cringe in distaste.

Whatever they wanted to say next was cut off by the violent opening of the entrance door and the helpless jingling of the bell above it- “I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Woojin! God I'm such an idiot, please forgive me! I will work overtime today, OK? No wait, that would actually be very unfortunate since- Oh fuck I have to tell you what happened today, I swear I have a valid reason for being too late! I will work overtime some day, just not... this day or tomorrow or maybe also the day after tomorrow? I'm so so-”

The young man that stood in the door frame of the flower shop cut himself off as he catches sight of Chan and Woojin at the counter. Woojin exhales a little dramatically but motions for Felix to fully step inside. “Tell me what happened after you changed and put your stuff away, nothing much happened so far anyway.” With that he sends Chan a knowing look and the other snickers, successfully avoiding Felix' suspicions looks.

“I think... I think I should go now, though, already kept you from your work for long enough.”

Woojin doesn't exactly know where the awkward tension is coming from but it surrounds them thickly all of the sudden. He doesn't know what to say or do other than finally finishing to wrap up of the flowers and typing in the reception. Chan seems to be in a similar dilemma as he opens his mouth and then closes it like a dying fish, without getting any words out.

Woojin wants to say that he enjoyed the company. He wants to say that he would like to see Chan again, but no time feels right and after the two men awkwardly exchange their goodbye's, Chan almost walking out the shop without his change and then practically running against the glass door on his second way out, Woojin is alone again.

 

“Who was that?” Felix asks as soon as he comes to the front again, this time wearing a light green apron similar to Woojin's own. The honey blonde just shrugs, not sure what to say or if he even can say anything about this situation at all. To be honest, he hadn't quite understood what happened either and so he shared a confused look with the young employee before shrugging one last time and continuing to unpack and decorate his shop in the winter theme that was starting to settle around the other shops around him as well.

It had only been around a few minutes until Felix came in and Chan had left.

 

Felix' voice was blooming through the quiet atmosphere, deep and most importantly, loud, as he explained to Woojin how the younger had run over a university student with his bike.

“I mean I feel bad for not paying attention but honestly, he wasn't paying much attention either! He looked at me with big, round eyes like I had just told him I was his guardian angle or something, not like I just threw him to the ground, ya know.”

“Felix...”

“And now he blames me for apparently breaking his leg or something, which I don't believe by the way because he could still walk to the hospital just fine.”

“Felix.”

“Anyway, this guy even went as far as to ask me for my number to contact me in case it's something serious. What is he expecting from me? That I pay his hospital fees? I'm a damn high school student! He just texted me too, saying we should meet up for dinner so that he could inform me about if I should pay him back or whatever? Like?! Whaaat?”

The boy was becoming frantic and a little bit hysterical and Woojin was about to calm him down with the idea of a hot chocolate -because Felix had always been bad at reading into situations but this was just plain frustrating to watch now- as the glass door behind him was ripped open, for the third time today and it _wasn't even 11 am yet_. What was wrong with the people around him this morning? Was everyone on a spree of 'How to scare Kim Woojin'? At least the door bell made Felix finally shut up.

Woojin turned around, sending a genuine smile to whoever just saved him from a high school Drama, “Welcome, how can I help-” He could feel his eyebrows shoot up his hairline.

“Hey....” Chan was standing in the entrance looking a little disheveled and out of breath but in a happier mood than when he first stormed in.

He throws a quick look in Felix' direction and said one scuffles to the back of the shop with the speed of light.

“I've thought about what you said before,” Woojin is left behind puzzled and a little embarrassed as Chan takes step after step through the rows of flowers until he stands a feet away from the slightly taller male, “I don't think I can make my ex jealous but I can at least throw him a metaphorical punch in the face when I show up with a more handsome boyfriend than he will ever be, right?”

Chan was still holding the bouquet of flowers in both hands, fiddling with the hem of the paper. He looked nervous for some reason.

“Yes, why not?"

Silence.

"Did you come all the way back again to tell me this?” Did Woojin want him to come back for more? Maybe he just read too much into the conversation. Chan may be glad that someone helped him but someone like him did most likely not need someone like Woojin in their life, an awkward almost thirty year old who talked to _flowers_ like they were his children and no friends besides his employee, brother and his brothers boyfriend.

“I- I actually wanted to- wanted to-”

“Do you want a bouquet for your pretend to be boyfriend too?” Woojin joked, swallowing the bitterness that had crept up his throat, as you do. Moving on. Woojin had meant it as a joke but Chan looked at him first in surprise, then in sudden determination. “Why not!”

 

When looking for the perfect flower to give to some stranger Chan would presumably try to bribe into the whole situation, the pale man seemed to be a lot more serious then he had been with the bouquet he had gotten before.

'What flower do you personally like more?'

'If someone would drag you into the situation, which type of flower would you prefer?'

Chan was no doubt asking for a professional florists opinion. Yeah.

“I like sunflowers best but I'm not sure they are the perfect fit. They are “happy” flowers” Woojin thought for a moment before he continued, “Don't worry, be happy, you know” he said in broken English, Chan's smile grew so wide that it was going to split his face in two at any second.

Turning away to not make his staring too obvious, Woojin let his eyes graze over the sun like petals “They symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity, they are the perfect gift to make someone's day- Anyhow, Daisies and yellow Lilies would be a whole better-”

“It's perfect.” Chan cut him of, already reaching out his fingers to grab a sunflower out of the vase. “It's the most perfect flower there could be.” But now his eyes were traveling up from the sun colored blossom to Woojin, traveling up his chest and chin upwards and finally landing on his eyes, staying there, intense, as if he was trying to tell Woojin something.

Unfortunately, or well, _naturally_ , the taller couldn't read his thoughts.

“So...” He trailed off, not being able to look away from Chan's gaze yet but feeling a tickling heat travel up his neck and ears.

“So...” Then Chan broke it, whatever it had been, shifting glances around the room as if something there could help him express whatever he wasn't able to say out loud.

 _Well, I guess that's it then._ “That will be five dollars-”

When Woojin looked back up his view was blocked by yellow, his nose prickling with the scent of warmth and earth and flower. Sunflower. He tried to move away but the flower head was only pushed into his face even more.

“What the- What?” Helplessly grabbing whatever -or rather, whoever- was behind the flower, Woojin's fingers found another pair of hands, grabbing them and lowering them gently but firmly. What came into view was the face of Chan, of course, who else would torture Woojin with flowers right now. Chan's face was the endearing shade of red, as red as an Amaryllis but before the flower shop owner could ask about the man's appearance, Chan pushed his hand in the others face.

“Don't stare at me like that, god, it's already embarrassing enough to ask you out, don't make this more complicated!”

**\-----------**

This time, when Woojin swatted Chan's hand away, his cheeks had the same glow to them as Chan expected his own to look. “What.” _Was that the only thing he had to say now?_

“You heard right, come with me to punch my ex in the face! Metaphorically that is.”  Woojin was starting to nudge the flower away again and Chan was getting frustrated.

“Just take the damn flower!” He didn't know where the stubbornness and self-esteem came from but it worked. Reluctant but sure enough the other man took the sunflower from Chan's hand. Despite his flaming hot cheeks Woojin seemed to be unnervingly calm about this, maybe Chan had read too much into the situation after all.

Or not!

“Sure thing, I can do that. I can pretend to be your boyfriend for a few hours, you don't have to be so aggressive about it.” But now Woojin was smiling and it was so bright and warm that Chan was already comparing him to the sun herself, not only the flower anymore.

And he had said yes. Woojin had really said _yes_ to this ridiculous plan. The man as dazzling and hot as the sunshine had said _yes_ to someone like Chan, who looked like his whole life was a ridiculous, emotional roller coaster. Which it was, mind you.

“Yeah, let's pretend.” Chan beamed.

“Let's pretend...” Woojin echoed.

 

Both of them knew that there was more to that.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo? Hope you liked the ff, pls leave some criticism in the comments because I really don't know what to think of this  
> Maybe I will find it shitty in the morning and I will update it in a sober state of mind, who knows... 
> 
> anyway, could you guess what happened to Felix? I don't know why I suddenly weaved in some side story I feel like it was a little confusing and unnecessary? Let me know about that as well
> 
>  
> 
> UPDATE:  
> I just read the story in a sober way and I'm OK with how it turned out, also, 70 KUDOS WTH?! I guess I will write a little sequel to this story if I have the time so pls stay tuned you guys
> 
>  
> 
> !!UPDATE PLS READ!!  
> I have a few things planned out, a few things started BUT since English isn't my first language I have not been that satisfied with my work lately. I wanted to ask if somebody who speaks english as their mothern language would be willing to read through my texts and could give me a hand. I want to make my sentences and expressions sound more "professional" and smooth. Pls contact me if you're interested, it would help my work get done a lot faster!


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